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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What literary technique is used in the following? "lifted out of the riverbed of endless possibilities"?

2. What does Rilke refer to death as?

3. Rilke suggests to the reader in "The Dragon-Princess," "we must assume our existence as _____ as we in any way can."

4. In "Blood-Remembering," Rilke writes "One must be able to think back to roads in ________."

5. In what town is Rilke buried?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is sacred to Mood regarding Rilke's writing? How does he express this in regarding his grave?

2. What does Mood examine about Rilke's vision of the empty space within the rose?

3. What comparison does Rilke use to explain human experience in "The Dragon-Princess"?

4. What does Rilke remark in "Blood-Remembering" of the memories themselves?

5. In Mood's discussion of "The Difficulty of Dying," what symbol does he analyze first?

6. What happens once man has acclimated himself to solitude, according to Rilke in "The Dragon-Princess"?

7. What does Mood posit that the word "Desire" implies in "The Difficulty of Dying"?

8. What does Rilke speak of initially regarding solitude in "The Dragon-Princess"?

9. In "Blood-Remembering," what does Rilke write about the young as writers?

10. What does Mood say of Orpheus in his interpretation of "The Difficulty of Dying"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Mood's analysis of Rilke's epitaph. How does Mood dissect the poem into pieces, looking at each segment as it interlocks with the next? How does he view the translating of the words?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the following in terms of their influence on Rilke and his writing: Friedrich Nietzsche, Auguste Rodin, Sigmund Freud.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Rilke's writing in terms of the themes of "patience," "experience," and "youth." What metaphors and symbols does he use to approach these topics?

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